Beekeeping on the island of Newfoundland.

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Spring Bees in Flight

Both hives went wild about an hour after I added the inverted jar feeders today and the temperature went up to about 10°C. It’s the thickest I’ve seen the bees this year. I’ll post a video as soon as I can. In the meantime, here’s the slideshow:

I’m not saying they’re great photos, but it was fun trying to capture the bees in flight. They were so thick, they were landing all over the camera, my face, my hands, everything. I only get alarmed, though, when I feel one burrowing through my hair. That’s when I get up and flick them off my head.

I could sit my video camera down in front of the bottom entrance when the bees are thick, watch them and record them for 30 minutes, and then go inside and watch every minute of it. I love it. I’ve done enough reading now, mostly from “The Biology of The Honey Bee,” that I can identify more of their behaviours. It’s kind of exciting when you actually know what they’re doing. Then other times I have no clue, but I love that mystery too.

Last summer if I had bees landing on my face, I wouldn’t have been able to sit still. But most of these bees today were fuzzy little baby bees. I don’t think they know what they’re doing. They were landing on me because I was warm. As long as they don’t crawl up my nose or close to my eyes, I’m okay. One trick is to keep my mouth closed. They don’t like human breath.

Put a little sugar syrup on your fingers or the back of your hand sometime (no gloves). Any bee that lands nearby will stick around for lunch. A warm hand. Good food. They have no reason to leave, and you can watch them stick their long tongues out and lap up all the syrup, going about their business like you’re not even there.

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Mud Songs

is a record of every beekeeping mistake I've made since I started beekeeping on the island of Newfoundland in 2010. I make the mistakes so you don't have to. See the About page for more details.